Just Give Me One Dance
by Wild Growlithe
Summary: My holiday fic. A piece of fluff that was sorta inspired by the pokemon christmas soundtrack (now that's something new and different) and dedicated to all my fellow Pokeshippers!


Okay, first I feel a little wrong doing this since I'm Jewish. But face it, everyone in pokemon celebrates Christmas, so that's what I wrote about. I also incorporated a few songs from the pokemon christmas bash CD into this fic. See if you can spot them all! I hope that all of you like the way this one turns out, cause I didn't like it much. Please let me know! ^_^

Darkness of night left the world as small rays of sunlight began to enter the windows of a small cottage in the forest. The rays fell upon the closed eyes of Pikachu, causing him to slowly blink them open as he felt the sunlight warm his little body. With a tiny groan, Pikachu forced himself up onto his paws and shook himself off. Carefully he stretched out his short little back legs, and then his front. Consciousness had almost completely filled the little mouse as his mouth stretched open for a wide yawn. Blinking, Pikachu then stood up on his hind legs and looked around him. His 360 degree scan of the living room area of the cottage stopped when his eyes fell upon the beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Underneath the tree, to Pikachu's shock, were several presents lying on the floor.

"Cha!" He cried happily as he bounded down from his perch on the footstool and over to the tree. The small but comfortable footstool had served as a makeshift bed for the little mouse during the previous night. He had made a dedication to remain awake through all of Christmas eve, not to blink an eye until he saw the fat human known as Santa Claus actually deliver the gifts as Ash and the others said he did. Trying to be a realist, Pikachu wasn't about to believe that any human had the energy to do such a thing. Especially one that looked so badly out of shape. His guess was that Santa had some pokemon do all the work for him, perhaps some Jynx and Delibird were actually up there helping his Stantler to deliver. To prove his theory, Pikachu had stayed awake until the painful hour of 4 o'clock in the morning, when his little eyelids finally gave in to the weight of drowsiness. Now he had awoken only a few hours later and found all of the gifts neatly placed under the tree...and they'd been put there right under his nose. Maybe he'd never find out the truth...

But now Pikachu was more excited about searching for which gift belonged to him instead of pondering where they had come from. He looked over all of the boxes, peeking at the tags, and wishing that he knew how to read. Pikapi would have to teach him sometime...

Before Pikachu could put his nose to work to try and find out what was inside the boxes, a thunderous noise came from upstairs where Pikapi and the other humans had been sleeping. Pikachu sighed. He knew that the source of the noise was Pikapi himself, and would be followed by the slightly less thunderous Pikachupi and Squinted one. Putting on his best smile, Pikachu ran in the direction of the excited noises and bounded into his young trainer's arms, licking his face.

Ash laughed happily as he spotted the tree, running over to it with Pikachu hugged against his chest. Acting like a five year old again, the boy started frantically searching through the gifts for tags with his name. Pikachu had to restrain him from opening anything before his friends got downstairs.

Misty was the next to arrive, coming down the stairs in a much more toned-down version than Ash did. Her aqua colored eyes were shining with excitement as Togepi blinked in curiosity as to what was going on. Misty placed herself next to the overjoyed Ash and waited with him for Brock to arrive.

Finally the sleepy older boy walked slowly down the stairs, the only one of the trio not having a pokemon to accompany him. He yawned as he made his way over to Misty and Ash, then said his good mornings. 

Looking into Ash's pleading eyes, Brock smiled.

"Alright, I'd say it's safe to start opening now." He said happily. Ash burst into a huge grin and dove for the first thing he found with his name on the tag. Pikachu and Misty followed suit. Brock decided to wait until the flying wrapping paper had cleared before he tried anything.

In a few minutes all the presents had been unwrapped, and everyone was reveling in the happiness that the gifts had brought. It was then that Team Rocket made their way down the stairs, all yawning and looking like they could've easily spent 5 more hours asleep. It must've been months since they'd last slept in an actual bed. The previous night, a holiday truce had been made between Team Rocket and Team Twerp when Jessie, James, and Meowth had all busted into the rented cottage of Ash Misty and Brock. They'd interrupted a reading of "The Night Before Christmas", and wound up joining in themselves. By the time they were done reading the poem, Ash and the others were shocked when the Rockets just headed for the door, saying they'd changed their minds about bothering them on Christmas. But then the trio of troublemakers had their turn to be shocked when Ash stood in front of the doorway, insisting that they needed someplace warm to stay. Nobody should be cold and alone on Christmas. And so all disputes were put away for the holiday, and now all 8 usual enemies were sitting by the tree, enjoying the happy morning together.

Once the gifts under the tree were all unwrapped, it was time for the group to exchange gifts with each other. Pikachu was the first to get all of his from everybody. Gifts for the little mouse consisted of ketchup bottles, an apple pie, a new lightning bolt sleeping bag, and a "No hard feelings...until tomorrow" card from Team Rocket.

Togepi was greatly enjoying his first Christmas. He got many baby toys and a tiny little jacket especially designed for his egg-shape so that he could play out in the snow without getting too cold.

"Now it's my turn to give all of you guys something special." Brock said happily. "For you Ash." Ash happily opened the small present to reveal a book. 

"How to Handle your Newly Evolved Pokemon" He read the title aloud. "Cool...hey, wait a minute, I already know how to handle an evolved pokemon!" Ash yelled defensively. 

"Sure ya do Ash.." Brock said, then turned to Misty. "Misty, you might want to open yours without letting Ash see..."

"Why is that?" Misty asked skeptically. Brock just turned her around and gave her a box. She peeled off the paper, revealing a Think-chip Ash doll. "Wha?! What is this??" She asked in surprise.

"Well, I figured that since you have trouble turning Ash on in reality, you could do it easily with this thing." Brock said with a smirk. "Just push that button down there and he's turned on, just like that. Get it? Haha! You can thank me later." Rather than thanking Brock, Misty drew back her fist and sent him flying across the living room.

"Thanks a lot!" She shouted, face red as the ornaments on the tree. As Ash ran over to help the semi-conscious Brock, Misty watched after him. It was true what Brock said...well, sort of. There was no way she would ever get Ash to notice her. She had tried last night in what was possibly her boldest attempt ever. Misty had been almost certain that catching the boy under the mistletoe was a great plan...she knew that it was a big risk, but she didn't count on him humiliating her the way he did by screaming and running away. He had no idea just how much that had hurt her, and now he probably never would know. Hiding her sadness, she smiled at the boy as he carried Brock back over to the tree.

"I'm not even gonna ask why you did that Misty..." Ash said as he set Brock down.

"Good..." She answered. "cause now it's time for your present from me." She then shoved a small box into his hand. Ash curiously unwrapped the gift, then lifted the lid on the box.

"Hey, cool! It's one of those special poke balls!" Ash said, pulling the dark-greenish colored ball out of the box. "Which one is this?" He asked Misty happily. The girl smiled. 

"It's a friend ball. Whatever pokemon you catch in there will be more friendly to you, like your regular pokemon are. I figured you could use it to catch one of those hard to control pokemon."

"Is it just me, or do you guys seem to have little faith in me when it comes to controlling pokemon?" Ash asked half-jokingly. Misty playfully patted his shoulder. 

"Just trying to help you along Ash." She answered with a slight laugh. Then getting an excited smile of her own, Misty looked hopefully at Ash. "So....Did you get anything for me too Ash?" Ash gulped. He was hoping that she wouldn't ask that....

"Um...yeah. It's just...well...um...are you sure you want it?" He smiled sheepishly.

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I?" Misty asked innocently.

"Heh, I guess you're right..." Ash reached into his pocket, grinning nervously, and pulled out....

A sock.

Not a pair of socks, but just one sock. It had a faded picture of a clefairy on it.

"Here ya go." Ash said. "Um..I'm lookin' for the other one, and as soon as I find it I'll give it to you...then you'll have a pair." Ash looked at Misty's face, trying to see her reaction. He could see confusion and a bit of disappointment on her face, and also a bit of anger forming there. The only thing that he didn't notice was the hurt showing on her face.

Misty was trying to control her feelings...presents weren't what mattered on this holiday right? It was the thought that counted right? But it looked like almost no thought at all had been put into this "gift". It looked like it had already belonged to someone. He hadn't even bothered to wrap it. How could he be so...inconsiderate? She had pondered long and hard about what to get for him, and had gone through quite a bit of trouble to actually get that ball. Quite frankly she couldn't have cared less about what he got her. What Misty really wanted was to know that he cared, that he had thought about her and considered her feelings. This showed that he obviously had not.

"Just what is this? A...a sock? Ash did you put any effort into this at all?" She said, her voice rising with anger in every word that escaped it.

"Look, I just didn't know what to get you, okay?" Ash tried to defend himself.

"No, no it's not okay!" Misty could feel tears beginning to sting her eyes. She'd hoped that maybe Ash would show some care for her in any kind of gift, but all her hopes had been dropped. 

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Ash asked.

"Yes! This is a holiday Ash, a speical time to show the people in your life that you care. And I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, you'd show that you cared about me, at least just a little bit! But over this holiday you've shown that you clearly couldn't care less about me Ash!" There was a pause. "And now I feel like an idiot for ever thinking that you would." With that Misty stomped back upstairs, moving as quickly as she could to hide her tears.

Everyone down in the living room now had their attention focused on Ash. The young trainer just stared in the direction that the redhead had huffed off in, blinking in confusion.

"What did I do?"

****

The rest of the day went considerably well, even with Misty's absence. She'd kept herself upstairs with Togepi for the entire morning. Ash tried to block the whole scenario from his mind, finding it all too upsetting and confusing. Instead, he, Brock, and Team Rocket got to work setting up for the little party they were planning. Only a few people would be invited. The local Joy and Jenny would be making an appearance at Brock's request, and a few travelers who happened to stumble upon the cottage were welcome to join. Not a lot of work had to be done. Brock had prepared a bit of food the previous night, and the cottage was already decorated. Pikachu and Meowth were each sporting a santa claus hat. Brock and James had loved the idea of it, while the pokemon did not. While Jessie and James worked on cleaning up the place, Ash was grooming all of his pokemon so they would look nice and Brock was setting up the stereo and a mix of songs that would play. At around mid-afternoon, everything was all set up. The hard working group was finally able to relax. Brock went online, Jessie and James played enthusiastically with Ash's game boy, and Meowth was trying to talk Pikachu into sneaking an early taste of all the food that was set up. Ash simply flopped himself down on the couch and looked up at the ceiling.

__

Boy, I sure am glad all that work's over with...this is gonna be a great party, Ash thought. _and it won't be as crowded as the one last night. Still, I wonder why it feels like something's missing...Oh yeah, I forgot about Misty. She sure was mad...oh well. She usually gets over these things. It seems like that whole mistletoe incident last night was forgotten, so she just needs time with this one. That must be it. Anyways, I hope she comes down soon. I hate to say it, but the party wouldn't be the same without her..._

After a few minutes of just sitting there, Ash remembered his mom. He realized that he should've called her a while ago, and instantly sprang from the couch.

"Hey Brock, I'm gonna call home." He called to his friend. "Want to use the vid phone after me?"

"Sure Ash, that sounds like a good idea. As a matter of fact I was just checking to see if I'd gotten any e-mail from my family." Brock answered. Ash smiled.

"Great." He said. "I can't wait to say hi to mom!" Ash exclaimed happily as he dialed his home number. "I wonder if she got me a present too...I hope she likes the one I sent her." A happy smile was spread across the boy's face as his mother answered the phone. Delia was overjoyed to hear from her son on Christmas. She smiled as she told him how much she loved the cute little scarf he had sent her.

"And I got something special for you too Ash.." Delia said as she reached down to show it to her son on the screen. Ash's eyes lit up. He stared intently ahead as his mother pulled out...a new pair of Pikachu underwear.

"Just so you don't forget to change sweetie. I knew you'd like the little pikachus on it!" Ash sweatdropped.

"Uhhh...yeah, I love 'em mom!" He attempted to smile sincerely as he heard Jessie and James snickering in the background.

"You are changing every day, am I right Ash?" Delia asked sternly.

"Y-yes mom, I am." Ash's voice lowered to a near whisper.

"That's my good little boy." She said, her voice back to its normal cheery sound. "Keep it up Ash, I love you."  
"I love you too mom...merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too baby. Goodbye!" With that Delia hung up the phone and the screen went black. Jessie and James couldn't contain it anymore and both burst into uproarious laughter.

"It's...good...to know...that you always battle us.....with clean undergarments, twerp!" Jessie managed to get out between laughs. Ash hung his head.

"Brock, you can go ahead now." The boy said as he walked away from the phone. "And Pikachu?" Ash called to his electric mouse.

"Pika?"

Ash pointed at Jessie and James. "Thundershock."

****

Misty looked out the window, seeing a blanket of snow covering everything around the cottage. She loved the snow, she loved winter. But right now she didn't feel like going outside. She didn't feel like doing anything. For what seemed like the 50th time that day, she buried her face in her pillow.

__

Why did he do that...why? I thought...I thought that maybe I meant something more to him than a used sock. Wow, I'm worth as much as a used sock to him...how nice. Well then I'll just have to save him the misery of having me at the party today. Maybe I let him off after humiliating me last night, but not this time. Another tear escaped her eye. _I care so much about him....why doesn't he care about me?_

Misty's attention was drawn away from her pillow as Togepi signaled a visitor in the room. She glanced over at the doorway...then looked down a few feet and saw Meowth standing there.

"Da twoip wants dat ya should come downstairs and call yer family. He says it's stupid fer ya to be stayin' up here on Christmas and dat he don't wanna deal wit ya bein' all grumpy later today. So come on."

"I'm not going." Misty said, turning away from Meowth. "If that's the only reason that he wants me down there then he can forget it. I can call my sisters later."

"Heh, you buy dat lousy excuse from dat kid?" Meowth snickered. "I don't buy it fer a second....I tink he misses you." The cat pokemon grinned. The girl blinked and eyed Meowth.

"You...you do?" Misty asked, still finding it hard to believe the pokemon that was her frequent foe.

"Yeah, sure." Meowth answered. "He keeps askin' 'when's Misty comin' down?' Or 'Just how long is she gonna stay up dere anyways?' So he asked me ta come and get yous. Da way I see it you oughtta be grateful dat I took orders from dat twoip just so I could get his twoipy goilfriend downstairs."

"I'm not his girlfriend Meowth, you know that." Misty said in an annoyed voice.

"Yeah, I know, but yous two act like a few married couples dat I used to know sometimes...I know da real reason dat your cooped up in here is cause ya wanted some attention from da twoip." Misty didn't say a word, she just kept a sort of guilty look on her face. "Well ya ain't gonna get no attention if ya stay locked up all day." Meowth started walking out of the room. "Just go, ya won't regret it." Meowth called before he disappeared down the stairs. Misty sighed, and stood up.

****

"It's goin' great Professor. Some of the guests are getting here right now. And that means that the snack table will open soon!" Ash spoke into the phone with joy when he mentioned his beloved food.

"Well that's certainly good to hear Ash." Professor Oak smiled on the other end of the line. "All of your pokemon here wish you a very merry Christmas." Muk, Tauros, Heracross, and Kingler all popped up to say their holiday greetings to their trainer. Ash laughed.

"Hi guys! Merry Christmas to you too! Say Professor, whatever happened to that Pikachu you were gonna give Santa? Did he get it?"

"Actually...there was a problem with that." The Professor said, scratching his head. 

"Really? What kind of a problem?" Ash asked, wondering why santa wouldn't want to take one of the best presents he would ever get.

"The pikachu refused to go. He said it would be against his religion!" The Professor said, stating it as if he were still in disbelief.

"Huh? What do ya mean Prof.?" Ash asked, utterly confused. The Pikachu popped up on the screen next to the Professor and smiled.

"It's Jewish." Oak said, glancing over at the little mouse. "It said that going with Santa would be wrong, and that it should be faithful to it's religion."

"Pika, Pikachu." The pikachu said on the screen.

"It says happy late Chanukah." Oak translated. Ash smiled.

"Thanks, you too Pikachu. Better luck next year Professor, merry Christmas!" Ash said as he hung up the phone. Ash sighed as he turned away from the phone. The party was really starting to warm up now.

__

Oooh...look at that cake. How come no one's going over and eating it? They must be savin' it for me. Ha! That's so nice of them....or maybe Brock just didn't give the word yet. But I'm hungry! There's plenty of people here, why not start eatin'? Plenty of people...that reminds me, I wonder if Meowth got Misty downstairs. Not that I care or anything.

As if on cue, Meowth appeared at the foot of the staircase. Ash looked hopefully at the cat, who glanced at him and spoke. 

"I don't tink she's comin' down..." Meowth said casually. "...and if she does good luck tryin' ta get her to talk to ya."

"What? You mean she hasn't cooled down yet?" Ash didn't sound happy.

"I guess not." Meowth answered. "Maybe yas shoulda treated her a little nicer when she got so mad about da sock. Den she wouldn'ta run up dere. Dat's what I tink anyways." With that, Meowth walked off to mingle. Ash crossed his arms and frowned.

"So now he thinks this is my fault too?" The boy said to no one in particular. "Doesn't anyone get it? Presents aren't what counts most, it's the thought that counts, and at least I thought about her....well...kinda." Ash thought back to last night. He'd been thinking about what Misty would like for a while, but nothing good or affordable ever seemed to come to mind. So he decided to let it go, and worry about her some other time. She was no big deal after all, right? But during the pokemon center party on Christmas Eve, Ash had completely and totally forgotten about it. It wasn't until he was about to go to bed that he realized that Misty was the only person he didn't have a gift for. So as a last minute resort, he'd dug through some of his old stuff until he came across the sock. He figured that maybe that would be good enough...he could find the matching one later.

__

Gee, maybe I wasn't very nice to her...and maybe...she was right when she said I didn't put much thought into it. Come to think of it I'd probably feel the same way if mom or someone else got me a present like that. But that doesn't mean that she's totally right! She can't go around tellin' me that I don't care! She's my friend, so I care about her like I care about the others...at least I think I do. And what did she mean when she said that I've shown that I don't care over the holiday? Did I do it more than once? She couldn't have been talkin' about the whole mistletoe thing. Did she really think I was gonna kiss her? Yuck...I mean, maybe there was some funny thing in me that wanted to...but that was just the cookies talking! I'm not gonna apologize for that....but I guess I should apologize about the present. If she ever comes down that is.

Once again, as if on cue, Ash heard light footsteps making their way down the stairs. He looked in the direction of the hall and spotted Misty slowly walking down. A smile lit up on the boy's face as he finally spotted the one he'd been waiting for, but he stifled it immediately, confused as to why her appearance had suddenly made him so happy. Misty walked quietly into the living room with Togepi at her heels. She didn't want to draw any attention from her friends or any of the visitors. She could just imagine Brock calling out something stupid like "Good morning sunshine!" And getting the whole room to look at her. She didn't want anyone looking at her now. Especially not...

"Misty, hi!"

Ash.

Misty scowled. _If he thinks that I'm going to be back to my normal cheery self and that everything is forgotten, he's got another thing coming._

"You finally came down." Ash said as he reached her. "I...the others were gettin' worried." Misty just frowned at Ash, turned her head away from him and walked off. Ash was left alone and dumbfounded. "Huh?"

Misty walked through the small crowd. The party was in full swing now. Glancing outside, she spotted Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Totodile and Cyndaquil all playing in the snow. Moving to the door and opening it a crack, she let Psyduck and Poliwhirl out to join the fun before the sun came out from behind the heavy clouds. Misty smiled as she watched hers and Ash's pokemon play together. She laughed slightly as Psyduck tripped over a twig in the snow, and smiled broader when Bulbasaur came to help him up. 

__

Ash's pokemon are so kind and considerate of mine...why can't it be that way between us?

"Misty, where are ya goin'?" Misty rolled her eyes. It was Ash again. "Come on, say somethin'." He pleaded while he tried to make his way over to her. Misty just glared at him before walking off a second time. Ash pouted. This wasn't getting him anywhere. 

__

What am I gonna do now? Here I am tryin' to apologize like she'd want me to, but she keeps ignoring me! How am I supposed to get her to talk to me now? Girls are too confusing...maybe I should ask someone who knows more about them than I do...

Ash knew how to find Brock. The room wasn't very big to begin with. All Ash had to do was scan for the bright colors of Jenny and/or Joy and there he would be. Sure enough, as soon as Joy's bright pink hair was spotted, there was Brock's dark spiky hair standing next to it. Ash squeezed through the small crowd of trainers so that he could get to Brock, not taking any notice to the fact that the snack table was open.

****

Misty sat herself down on the couch, sighing. On the left side of her was the Christmas tree, and to her right was the stereo. Misty laid her head back and shut her eyes. Maybe the music would take her mind off of Ash. She shouldn't be worrying so much about it anyway...this was a party, it was Christmas. It was time to be happy and have fun, not worry about boys. A soft purring sound caused the girl to open her eyes and look at the spot next to her on the couch. There was Meowth, curled up and asleep on the cushion beside her. She smiled, thinking about how funny it was to hear Meowth purr. Another thing she noticed with interest was that when Meowth wasn't being mean and greedy or trying to steal poor Pikachu, he could be a very cute little pokemon. Misty almost felt inclined to pet him, but knew that that would be a little too awkward. Feeling eyes upon him, Meowth twitched his whiskers and opened his eyes. He glanced up at Misty with half-open lids.

"So, yas finally decided ta come down, did ya?" He said, stretching himself out. "I told ya it was a good choice."

"Yeah, I guess you were right." Misty said. She looked out into the crowd and saw Ash walking towards Brock. "Partially." She added with a frown.

"Ya need to relax kid, kick back a little and laugh or sometin'. Even dough I don't like dis holiday dat much, everyone else does, and I know dat you ain't no exception." Misty attempted to smile, but her face wasn't very convincing. "So yer still gonna sit dere lookin' all poopy, huh?" Meowth sighed. Doing nice things was so hard, yet slightly rewarding. "Alright den, ya leave me no choice." He said, and got up from the couch cushion. He walked over to the stereo and clicked it off. Then leaping across the room and onto James' head, Meowth cleared his throat, and broke out into song. 

****

Finally, Ash had made it over to Brock. Just as he was about to say something to the older boy, the sound of a catty singing voice stopped him in his tracks. Ash and everyone else in the room stared in disbelief as Meowth sung a song he had written himself, "Nobody Don't Like Christmas". He leaped from atop James' head to the top of the Christmas tree while singing. Almost everyone's face broke out into a smile as Meowth finished his song. Ash glanced over at Misty and saw that she was laughing. He couldn't help but smile, glad to see that she finally looked happy. But again, he pushed the smile down and moved closer to Brock.

"Hey Brocko." He said once he was in earshot. Brock turned and grinned.

"Hey there Ash, great party isn't it?" He answered.

"Yup...listen Brock, could I talk to you for a little?"  
"Sure thing Ash. I'm all ears."

"Well....um...you know about that whole thing with Misty gettin' mad at me over the present I got her?" Brock's attention was definitely gotten. This could be interesting...

"Yeah, I know...you want to beg for Misty's forgiveness but need help from my vast knowledge of women do you Ash?" Brock grinned.

"No! Well...yeah, but just cause I'm trying to get her to talk to me again...I'm trying to...to...apologize." Ash said, his voice dropping.

"I'm impressed Ash. That must be pretty tough for you. You're usually not the type to apologize, especially not to-"  
"I know! I'm trying to do something nice here, don't make me change my mind!" Ash raised his voice.

"Alright, I'll help you Ash." Brock said reassuringly. "If you really want to make this up to Misty, you've got to give her something that she wants. And I think I've got a pretty good idea..."

****

"Any betta?" Meowth asked as he walked past Misty. 

"Yes...that was great, thanks Meowth." Misty said.

"Well I hope ya cherished every moment of it twiop, cause it's neva gonna happen again." Meowth then walked to the stereo and flipped it back on, then went off on his own to the snack table. A slow romantic song started playing from the stereo on Misty's right. She shut her eyes again, trying to let the music take her mind off of Ash, just like Meowth's song had. But as the soft music wafted through her ears, Misty's imagination came into play. A picture of her and Ash dancing slowly to the music entered her mind. She sighed wistfully as she imagined gazing into his deep brown eyes as they stared lovingly into hers....feeling his arms tenderly around her waist...swaying in rhythm with him.....

Misty slapped herself internally. Great, that really helped. The music had only made her think of Ash more, and as much as she loved the daydream, it pained her to know that it would never come true. Staring down at the floor, Misty did her best not to cry.

****

"Look at her Ash, she still isn't over it is she?" Brock pointed out as he spoke with Ash.

"Yes, I know that Brock!" Ash said, annoyed. "Right now I wanna make it better! Tell me what I can do!"

"Are you willing to do what I tell you Ash?" Brock asked.

"Yes...I guess...just tell me Brock."

"Alright Ash...come closer." Brock leaned in and whispered in Ash's ear.

"You want me to do WHAT?!?" Ash exclaimed, nearly leaping back three feet with a look of horror on his face.

"Calm down Ash, it's not so bad. It's not like I told you to-"  
"But Brock, how can I possibly do something like that and be serious? And I have almost no experience, I'll make an idiot out of myself!" Ash protested.

"You want to apologize to Misty, right?" Brock asked.

"Yes."

"And you want her to be happy again, right?"

"Yes."

"Then just trust me Ash. If you make a fool out of yourself doing this it will make her a hundred times happier than making a fool out of yourself by hurting her." Brock looked Ash straight in the eye, no signs of kidding around were on his face. "If you're truly sorry, you'll do what you can to make it up to her." Ash gulped hard. This was going to be one of the most difficult things he'd ever done in his life....

****

The tears were coming....oh god there they were. So many people around, she couldn't let them see her cry. She couldn't let him see her cry. No! No more thinking about him! No more...here they come...they're going to fall, there's no way she'll be able to hide them...

Another soft romantic song began to play. Misty's eyes were ready to overflow, but were suddenly stopped when she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Eyes glistening with tears, Misty looked up for the source of the tap, and found herself staring into the eyes of the boy she was nearly crying over. Putting on an immediate frown, she looked away. 

"What do you want?" She asked in an angry tone. Still looking down at her, Ash took a deep breath.

"Misty...would you...um...would ya like to dance?" Misty's eyes widened with shock. She stared ahead of her, not believing what she had just heard, then slowly turned her gaze up to Ash. He was grinning nervously, but his eyes held sincerity in them. He wasn't playing some awful joke on her...he looked honest.

__

Oh man she looks like she's been shot...Ash thought. _I don't think I'm gonna live through this myself..._ Swallowing hard for a second time, Ash smiled and reached out his hand to Misty, who was still staring at him in disbelief.

"Please Mist?" Misty's face softened.

__

His smile is so beautiful...he called me Mist...I shouldn't say yes, I shouldn't! I won't, I won't say yes!

"Yes...Ash...I think I would." Misty finally answered his question. She reached out her own hand and put it in his, a tremendous feeling of warmth flooding through her arm as contact was made. Still smiling and sweating at the same time, Ash helped to pull Misty from her seat on the couch. He then led her out into the middle of the room, where a few other people were dancing as well. All the time he was thanking god that his gloves stopped her from feeling the sweat on his palms. Moving as carefully as he could, Ash reached out with his free arm and slipped it around Misty's waist. As soon as he felt his arm touch her, Ash's face reddened. Misty's head was spinning. How could this be happening? One minute he was the same insensitive clueless jerk he'd always been and in a flash he was being the sweetest she'd ever seen him, and asking her to dance to a slow song? Maybe she'd fallen asleep and this was all a beautiful dream...

Ash continued to get nervous as he felt Misty's delicate hand reach up and drape itself over his shoulder. Keeping her other hand in his, the frightened boy began to nervously sway to the music.

Right away Misty could tell that Ash wasn't a great dancer. She smiled at his discomfort. Not in a mean way, it was just that he looked so cute when he was all nervous. And perhaps Ash's discomfort made Misty feel more comfortable. She started moving with him, silently trying to guide him so that he wouldn't feel so awkward.

"Just...just relax Ash. Don't be so scared." She said, the nervousness in her voice coming out clearly. 

"You...seem pretty scared yourself Misty." Ash stuttered. Why was this so difficult?

"I know I do...it's just that...Ouch! Hey!" Misty cried out in surprise.

"Oops...sorry Misty." Ash said as he removed his foot from on top of hers.

__

I knew this would be a bad idea....

"It's okay Ash...here follow my lead." Misty helped Ash to dance for a few minutes, and the two seemed to loosen up a bit. They even started chatting with each other.

"I saw our pokemon playing outside." Misty said. "They all looked really happy."

"Yeah...all of 'em get along so well." Ash replied. The red on his face still had yet to fade, and he wished that he knew the reason it was there.

"So how'd you like that song Meowth sung, huh?" Ash asked, trying to stir up conversation more as the two danced.

"I loved it, I had no idea that he could sing, or even write songs." Misty said with a smile. "And you know, I think that he sang it to cheer me up."

"Wow, that's cool." _Great, Team Rocket's doing a better job of cheering her up than I am._ Thinking about that reminded Ash as to why he was doing this in the first place. "Misty." He began. Ash looked Misty directly in the eyes as he spoke. "We...both know that you were upset in the first place because of me. I acted like a jerk today, and....you...you were right." Misty was staring at him, listening intently. That just made it harder for Ash. "I should've put more thought into your present Misty. You...really do mean more to me than a used sock you know. It's obvious that you worked hard for my present, and I didn't do anything for yours. And then on top of it I didn't understand why you got upset...I wish I could do all of that over again Misty...I'm.....s-sorry." Instead of staring at Ash in shock as she was inclined to do, Misty smiled warmly at Ash.

"It's okay Ash...I forgive you." Now it was Ash's turn to be shocked. She forgave him? Just like that?

"No Misty, it's not okay. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"I think you're doing a fine job of making it up to me now..." She rubbed his shoulder lightly and gave his hand a small squeeze. Ash turned as red as the rose James was holding in his hand. He smiled and laughed nervously again.

"Come on Ash, let's make this a little more fun." Misty started dancing a little faster, and led Ash into a twirl.

"Hey...that was kinda fun." Ash said. "Let's do it again!" With that he started twirling around with her again and again. Misty laughed happily, and her laughs were joined by Ash's. Their young and happy laughter chorusing together seemed to fill the whole room with joy. Most of the people who had already been dancing stopped to watch the two youths. Pikachu smiled as he saw his trainer come alive in Pikachupi's arms. Meowth watched curiously as Jessie and James whispered to each other about the couple. Brock watched proudly.

"They grow up so fast...."

All of this had gone unnoticed to Ash and Misty. They didn't realize, but they had become lost in each other. Both their hearts were fluttering together as they never had before, and they each found a beauty in the other's eyes that they never knew existed.

__

What's this weird feeling? It's almost like the one I was gettin' last night at the party....I like it. Ash thought.

__

This is a dream come true...God how I wish I could stay like this forever...Just me....and Ash... Misty sighed.

After quite a while, song after song played. Ash and Misty remained in each other's arms, swaying to the music. Misty leaned closer to Ash and spoke.

"Ash..I'm having a great time. This could possibly be one of the happiest Christmases that I've ever had." Ash smiled.

"I know...I'm kinda thinkin' the same thing. I never knew that dancing could be so much fun." He replied.

"And...it's great...getting to be like this with you." Misty said with a blush. Ash just smiled at her again and drew her closer to him.

__

Wow this is so nice...I feel so weird...almost like I wanna...I don't know...she's really not that bad after all...not at all...

Oh Ash, I want to tell you so bad...but I can't...right now, this is enough....

Misty sighed and leaned her head on Ash's chest. It was still so hard for her to believe that this was really happening, that nothing had woken her up yet. She could feel everything around her, take in Ash's scent, feel the warmth of his body as he held her...it had to be real.

Ash rested his chin on Misty's head. This all felt so good. He could almost feel himself melting as she draped her arm around him further. This couldn't be something like love could it? No, that was for saps. But then, what was it?

The music had died down, and almost everyone at the party was gone. Ash and Misty's dance had turned into a slow, swaying embrace. Warmth coursed through each of them, filling them with the love that comes spending the holiday with someone you care about. But not all good things last. Ash's eyes looked up. He saw for the first time that he and Misty were the only ones remaining. A frown formed on his face. It was time for this to end. Gently, he whispered into her ear.

"Misty, everyone's gone." Misty lifted her head from Ash's chest and looked around. Sure enough, there was nobody left. Disappointment flooded her face.

"You're right." She said softly. Poor Misty...Ash didn't want to see her look so sad.

"I...um...I want you to know, that was one of the best times I've ever had." Ash spoke shyly. Misty smiled adoringly at him.

"Me too Ash."

"So...I hope you'll save a dance for me next year?" Ash smiled. Misty almost melted in his arms.

"Of course." She sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Before letting her go, Ash asked one more thing.

"And...is all forgiven?"

"Yes..."She replied in a soft voice. "...all but one thing...." Misty gently leaned her head up toward Ash, her lips meeting with his cheek in a soft kiss. Ash felt as if he were being charged with a million volts of thundershock, all through one tiny act. She held it there for a few seconds before pulling away. Misty gazed into his blushing face for a few moments before pulling out of his arms. With her own face glowing red, she backed away from him, then turned around and started walking to the stairs. As she reached the foot of the staircase, Misty turned around with a gentle smile on her face and her finger pointed toward the ceiling.

"Gotcha." Was all she said before she headed up to her room. Ash stood there, bewildered. What just happened? He turned his gaze directly above him, where Misty had been pointing. 

Hanging over his head was a small piece of mistletoe.


End file.
